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Teacher Gets Car in StarTimes ExtraTime Promo

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Oladele Ajibola, secondary school teacher, has received the 2014 Toyota Yaris car; he won in the on-going StarTimes’ ExtraTime promo.

The prize was presented to him at the StarTimes headquarters in Lagos, recently.

Ajibola, who received the prize in the presence of Jude Ogaga Ughwujabo, head of Regulation and Monitoring Unit of the National Regulatory Commission, said that he had initially thought that it was a ploy by tricksters, when he received the call from StarTimes that he had emerged the star winner in its ongoing promo.

In his words: “In fact at the time I received the call, I was in front of a debtor pleading that at least five thousand naira be paid out of the money owed me to attend to some family needs. I was not expecting such a call from anywhere because I did not even know that StarTimes had an ongoing promo.

“It was after I received the call and informed my wife that she searched on the internet to confirm that StarTimes is indeed running its ExtraTime promo. Since then, I have anxiously waited for this day looking out at every car I see on the road to confirm what the car looked like. I have been unable to sleep well because of my anxiety. This is my first car and I do not even know how to drive.”

Surprisingly, Ajibola, who is a member of the Methodist Church Nigeria, Diocese of Ibadan, Odo-Ona, said that he had been informed by a minister of God at his church’s yearly crusade in February, this year, that he would be presented with the keys to a car but he had not taken it seriously.

“To be frank, I did not believe but the revelation came again a second time that I doubted; it was then that I accepted the message believing that it was the will of God because whatever God says, will come to pass.” Despite his acceptance of the revelation however, Ayodele said that he was expecting a relative to present him with a used car. “All I did was to ensure that I recharge my decoder and now I have a brand new car.”

On her part, Bukola, Ajibola’s wife who is also a school teacher, said she was delighted about her husband’s win. “I’m happy, it is more than my expectation; it is God and it is like a dream,” she said.

Meanwhile Ughwujabo said that the ongoing promo is free and fair because the way it has been conducted.

“The winners emerged based on a random selection from a pool and we were on ground to ensure that the whole process was not staged. Our commission is set up to sanitize promotions like this; we are here because they have a permit. If a promo is not registered, there is a penalty to it. There are actions that monitor compliance our laid down regulations. We have collected the number of the winner and we will continue to follow-up with the winner to ensure that he is driving the car,” he said

To qualify for the promo, new subscribers stand the chance of winning a brand new 2014 Toyota Yaris car or a 32’ LED Digital TV at the monthly draws on the purchase of the StarTimes decoder, which comes with one month’s free subscription.

On the other hand, existing subscribers stand the chance of winning promo prizes by recharging with a StarTimes Soccer card or the usual StarTimes’ recharge card during the promo period.

There are also instant gifts like the 32’ LED Digital TV Sets or units of Viju Milk to be won. Instants prizes are to be redeemed at designated StarTimes’ prize redemption centres.

Monthly draws for the promo would hold at StarTimes’ Lagos head office at the end of each month until the promo ends in August. The last draw would come up on the 29th August 2014.

Currently, StarTimes sports channels are NTA Sports 24, Setanta Action, Setanta Africa, NBA TV, and MCS Sports. Soccer lovers can watch Live Matches of the FIFA World Cup moments on NTA Sports 24.

StarTimes has a mission of ensuring that every home in Nigeria enjoys affordable digital television. The mission is backed with its collaboration with NTA; the relationship is strategic partnerships that will help Nigeria actualise its 2015 digital transition deadline.

StarTimes is leveraging on NTA’s platform to provide quality digital service to every home in Nigeria and is committed to making digital television accessible and affordable to all Nigerians on the latest technology in DTT operation.

StarTimes, a licensed Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) pay TV operator in Nigeria, started its operations in Nigeria as NTA-STAR TV Network Limited with the joint venture between Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Star Communication Network CO, Limited of China.

StarTimes has covered thirty-two cities in Nigeria which include Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Port-Harcourt, Aba, Benin, Enugu, Ilorin, Jos, Kaduna, Makurdi, Onitsha, Sokoto, Uyo, Yola, Abeokuta, Akure, Oshogbo, Lokoja, Zaria, Kastina, Gusau, Minna, Lafia, Owerri, Awka, Warri, Calabar, Suleja, Binin-Kebbi and Ado EKiti.

 


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Trump Threatens More Strikes in Nigeria

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President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could carry out further military strikes in Nigeria if Christians continue to be killed, reigniting a sensitive debate over religious violence and foreign intervention in Africa’s most populous nation.

Trump Threatens More Strikes in Nigeria

President Donald Trump

Trump made the remarks in an interview with The New York Times, published on Thursday, while responding to questions about a US military strike carried out in Nigeria on Christmas Day.

At the time, the US military said the operation targeted Islamic State militants in north-west Nigeria and was conducted at the request of the Nigerian government.

Nigeria, however, described the operation as a joint counterterrorism effort, stressing that it was aimed at armed groups designated as terrorists and “had nothing to do with a particular religion”.

“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Trump was quoted as saying. “But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”

Pressed on comments by his own Africa adviser that extremist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram have killed more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria, Trump acknowledged that Muslims were also victims but insisted that Christians were being targeted disproportionately.

“I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians,” he said.

Trump has repeatedly raised alarms about the safety of Christians in Nigeria, beginning in late October when he warned that Christianity faced what he described as an “existential threat” in the country. He has accused Nigerian authorities of failing to adequately protect Christian communities and has openly threatened US military intervention if the violence continues.

Nigeria has firmly rejected claims of systematic persecution of Christians. The government maintains that the country’s security challenges are complex and largely driven by insurgency, banditry and criminal violence rather than religious targeting.

With a population of more than 230 million people, Nigeria is almost evenly divided between Christians, who are concentrated mainly in the south, and Muslims, who predominate in the north. Islamist insurgencies, particularly Boko Haram and its offshoots, have plagued parts of northern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands and displacing millions.

Nigerian authorities have repeatedly pointed out that militant attacks have claimed the lives of both Muslims and Christians, arguing that framing the violence along religious lines oversimplifies the crisis and risks inflaming tensions.

Following Trump’s earlier threats, the Nigerian government said it was willing to continue cooperating with Washington in combating terrorism but rejected language suggesting that Christians alone were under threat.

The latest comments are likely to strain diplomatic relations further, as Nigeria balances its partnership with the United States against concerns over sovereignty, security cooperation and the portrayal of its internal conflicts on the global stage.


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OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Health

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OpenAI maker of ChatGPT is rolling out a health-focused feature to the generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool that’s used by nearly a billion users.

Named ChatGPT Health, the new feature aims to provide users with health and wellness information. This, as health is one of the most common ways people use ChatGPT, according to OpenAI.

In a blog post, Microsoft-backed OpenAI says de-identified analysis of conversations show that over 230 million people globally ask health and wellness-related questions on ChatGPT every week.

ChatGPT Health will also “securely” connect medical records and wellness apps to ground conversations with a user’s own health information, making responses more relevant and useful.

“Designed in close collaboration with physicians, ChatGPT Health helps people take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness – while supporting, not replacing, care from clinicians.”

According to OpenAI, health information is often scattered across portals, apps, wearables, PDFs, and medical notes making it hard to see the full picture, and people are left to navigate a complex healthcare system on their own.

“ChatGPT Health builds on these so responses are informed by your health information and context. You can now securely connect medical records and wellness apps – like Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal – so ChatGPT can help you understand recent test results, prepare for appointments with your doctor, get advice on how to approach your diet and workout routine, or understand the trade-offs of different insurance options based on your healthcare patterns.”

According to the company, ChatGPT Health is designed to support, not replace, medical care, adding that it is not intended for diagnosis or treatment. “Instead, it helps you navigate everyday questions and understand patterns over time – not just moments of illness – so you can feel more informed and prepared for important medical conversations.

“To keep your health information protected and secure, Health operates as a separate space with enhanced privacy to protect sensitive data. Conversations in Health are not used to train our foundation models. If you start a health-related conversation in ChatGPT, we’ll suggest moving into Health for these additional protections.”

OpenAI adds that access to ChatGPT Health has started with a small group of early users to learn and continue refining the experience, adding that users with ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans outside of the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK are eligible.

“As we make improvements, we plan to expand access and make Health available to all users on web and iOS in the coming weeks.

“Medical record integrations and some apps are available in the US only, and connecting Apple Health requires iOS.”


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Kaspersky Shares AI Cybersecurity Predictions for 2026

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Kaspersky experts outline how the rapid development of AI is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape in 2026, both for individual users and for businesses. Large language models (LLMs) are influencing defensive capabilities while simultaneously expanding opportunities for threat actors.

Deepfakes are becoming a mainstream technology, and awareness will continue to grow. Companies are increasingly discussing the risks of synthetic content and training employees to reduce the likelihood of falling victim to it. As the volume of deepfakes grows, so does the range of formats in which they appear.

At the same time, awareness is rising not only within organisations but also among regular users: end consumers encounter fake content more often and better understand the nature of such threats. As a result, deepfakes are becoming a stable element of the security agenda, requiring a systematic approach to training and internal policies.

Deepfake quality will improve through better audio and a lowering barrier to entry. The visual quality of deepfakes is already high, while realistic audio remains the main area for future growth.

At the same time, content generation tools are becoming easier to use: even non-experts can now create a mid-quality deepfake in just a few clicks. As a result, the average quality continues to rise, creation becomes accessible to a far broader audience, and these capabilities will inevitably continue to be leveraged by cybercriminals.

Online deepfakes will continue to evolve but remain tools for advanced users. Real-time face and voice swapping technologies are improving, but their setup still requires more advanced technical skills. Wide adoption is unlikely, yet the risks in targeted scenarios will grow: increasing realism and the ability to manipulate video through virtual cameras make such attacks more convincing.

Efforts to develop a reliable system for labelling AI-generated content will continue. There are still no unified criteria for reliably identifying synthetic content, and current labels are easy to bypass or remove, especially when working with open-source models. For this reason, new technical and regulatory initiatives aimed at addressing the problem are likely to emerge.

Open-weight models will approach top closed models in many cybersecurity-related tasks, which create more opportunities for misuse. Closed models still offer stricter control mechanisms and safeguards, limiting abuse.

However, open-source systems are rapidly catching up in functionality and circulate without comparable restrictions. This blurs the difference between proprietary models and open-source models both of which can be used efficiently for undesired or malicious purposes.

The line between legitimate and fraudulent AI-generated content will become increasingly blurred. AI can already produce well-crafted scam emails, convincing visual identities, and high-quality phishing pages.

At the same time, major brands are adopting synthetic materials in advertising, making AI-generated content look familiar and visually “normal.” As a result, distinguishing real from fake will become even more challenging, both for users and for automated detection systems.

AI will become a cross-chain tool in cyberattacks and be used across most stages of the kill chain. Threat actors already employ LLMs to write code, build infrastructure, and automate operational tasks.

Further advances will reinforce this trend: AI will increasingly support multiple stages of an attack, from preparation and communication to assembling malicious components, probing for vulnerabilities and deploying tools. Attackers will also work to hide signs of AI involvement, making such operations harder to analyse.

“While AI tools are being used in cyberattacks, they are also becoming a more common tool in security analysis and influence how SOC teams work. Agent-based systems will be able to continuously scan infrastructure, identify vulnerabilities, and gather contextual information for investigations, reducing the amount of manual routine work.

“As a result, specialists will shift from manually searching for data to making decisions based on already-prepared context. In parallel, security tools will transition to natural-language interfaces, enabling prompts instead of complex technical queries,” adds Vladislav Tushkanov, Research Development Group Manager at Kaspersky.

 


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